


Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Volume 4

by iBlewupthemoon



Series: Marriage of Heaven and Hell [4]
Category: Highschool DxD (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Language, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28902156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iBlewupthemoon/pseuds/iBlewupthemoon
Summary: You've gotten to know Issei Hyodo, a devil known as the "harem king." However, after the world of High School DxD as you know it is reset and the Longinus users mysteriously vanish, our story now focuses on what could be considered his opposite, Makoto Fujiwara, an angel with no desire for a harem. However, fate begins to lead him on the same path as the goddess who reset the world threatens the very balance of Heaven and Hell.As the Church and Underworld's Conferences draw closer, the Khaos Brigade appears to be one step ahead of them through an ominous warning of an attack. Will the Occult Research Club be torn apart as they split up, or will the forces of Heaven and Hell unite to stop their common enemy?
Series: Marriage of Heaven and Hell [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2107470
Kudos: 2





	1. My Peerage's First Mission

"So, what is the real reason you wanted us to help with security for your conference?"

"We fear that the measures that we have currently won't be able to deal with a potential threat that we fear will strike at that time?"

"Who in particular do you think is a threat?"

"The same individual who's responsible for the breach in the Holy System that led to the fall of Heaven."

* * *

**Volume 4: Divine Traitor of the Security Breach**

"Hmm. Checkmate."

I honestly don't know how I did it, but I just won a game of chess against Sona Sitri.

Rias and Akeno had only been teaching me how to play for a week and a half now. I didn't know what I was doing half the time, but I managed to break down her defenses and I eventually checked her King.

"Oh. Wow! You actually did it!" Rias said, adjusting the garter on her uniform. "I only told you to give it a try so I could run through the shower!"

That would have normally been quite the distraction, but I was so focused on not getting absolutely humiliated by Sona that I somehow resisted my curiosity to glance at her silhouette in the other room.

I was expecting Sona to be absolutely flabbergasted, but she had quite the smug look on her face.

"Did you know I once broke up with a fiancé because he wasn't able to beat me in chess?"

"Wait. Is that true?" I asked her.

"It is true," Rias replied. "She refuses to marry a man who can't rival her intelligence,"

"Wait," I asked. "Then what does that mean about _me?"_

If Sona is implying what I think she's implying, I just crushed Saji's dreams by complete accident.

She chuckled and began to leave the room, "Nothing, really. See you around, Makoto."

One thing is for sure, I have somehow won the hearts of all three of the most popular girls in school. This is an odd stroke of luck indeed.

"Good grief."

"Looks like Serafall's sister has taken an interest in you as well, Makoto."

"Big brother!" Rias exclaimed as she noticed Sirzechs and Grayfia entering the room. "What are you doing here? Don't you have work?"

"Yes, but in a sense, this falls under it. I wanted to assure that Milcom Amon won't try any funny business while trading his Rook with my dear sister. Father and I also wanted to spend extra time observing the place before the official Class Visits. Lady Gabriel has agreed to lend a room for me and my wife-"

Grayfia began pinching Sirzechs' cheek.

"My apologies. Lord Sirzechs likes to tell silly jokes like that," she said as he was protesting in pain. "I'm simply the maid to the House of Gremory."

Didn't she straight-up tell me they were married earlier? I guess it was the alcohol speaking.

Also, I'm glad my mom is hospitable to more than just potential suitors, even if it is relatives of potential suitors.

Koneko suddenly burst into the room.

"Makoto. I need your help."

I followed her into the hallway of the main school building where there was much more clamor than usual before class.

I found out the reason before long. There was a group of first-years surrounding a familiar black-haired girl.

"Yuma?" I muttered.

As I approached her, Koneko suddenly jumped on my back and pinned her against the wall.

"Goodness, Makoto. If you were this happy to see me, you should have done that yourself."

"I'm not _that_ happy to see you…" I commented.

"What are you doing here, Raynare?" Koneko demanded.

"Umm…." she said, feigning embarrassment. "I think you have the wrong person. My name's Yuma Amano."

"As in 'the evening daze of heaven,' right?" Koneko commented. "Is that when you plan to kill Makoto?"

"You shouldn't make such baseless accusations in a public hallway, you know?"

"She's not trying to kill me, Koneko," I said.

"Toujou! Get off Makoto's back, that isn't proper."

She got off my back after Sona suddenly appeared next to us.

"Also, you will _not_ harass Miss Amano during school, regardless of any history you may have had with her."

"Okay," she said, in her usual stoic tone, as if she complied out of obligation.

"Get to class, all of you," Sona said.

All the other first years dispersed, and I was about to head to my class as well.

"Can I borrow you for a second, Makoto?" Sona asked. "I have a favor to ask of you and your peerage."

"Yes?"

"The school's pool will be opening up soon. Could the four of you help clean it for us? We've got our hands full right now"

"Sure!"

"Thank you so much! But do it _after_ school. I don't want to see you cutting class again on _my_ account."

* * *

After class, the four of us went down to the Pool to help with Sona's request. Yuuto, Koneko, and Ravel decided to help out as well. The rest of the club would have helped, but they had something else to take care of.

We drained the pool and cleaned the inside of it to get rid of all the moss and gunk that accumulated over a year of non-use.

After we scrubbed it real good, I stepped up to the diving board and outstretched my hand.

"Okay. Here goes nothing."

Akeno had taught me water magic earlier. Now to see if I can use it to fill an entire pool.

The big thing is focus. Focus on what I want.

I outstretched my hand and summoned a magic circle right above the pool. And then water began flowing out of it!

"Oh wow! That's impressive!" Ravel said as the rest of the group began clapping.

"Well, we managed to get so far without any awkward sexual tension…"

After an awkward silence from everyone, we decided to get changed to have first dibs at swim time.

"We finished changing! How do we look?"

Asia and Koneko came out first after Yuuto and I. They opted for the standard school swimsuit.

Not gonna lie, the combination of the Japanese school swimsuit on a foreign girl like Asia looked quite good.

I gave a thumbs up in lieu of saying anything weird.

"Thank goodness!"

Xenovia and Irina took a bit longer, they went for two-piece suits, albeit simple, and Ravel…

"Why didn't you change, Ravel?"

"Fried chicken princess is scared of the water," Koneko answered me.

"I am not! And stop calling me that!"

"Hey, at least you're not an enemy fallen angel."

"I still can't get over how she's a year below me," Asia commented.

"I told you, before, Koneko. Yuma saved my life. We don't have to worry about her anymore."

"Just because she saved your life before doesn't mean she still doesn't have ulterior motives." Koneko replied. "She tried to get you to join her coup when we were still fighting, remember?"

"You didn't trust _me_ at first, either, remember?"

"That was different. I thought you were just a rude smartass at first, but at least _you_ didn't have a bunch of exorcists try and kill us."

"Can I just get onto helping you and Asia swim?"

Apparently neither of them ever learned how to swim. I would understand Asia not knowing, since she lived in a convent for most of her life, but as tough as Koneko is, I thought she would know already, but alas.

Asia specifically asked me to help her. After all, the swim team was one of the teams I didn't make because my natural strength boosts as an angel could be mistaken for juicing.

I didn't mind helping Koneko and Asia out, as teaching a Servant and a Junior isn't much of a stretch from teaching a child to swim, but during Asia's session, my mind was wandering onto how awkward it would be if it was Rias or Akeno in her position.

As I was lost in thought, I nearly forgot there was a wall right behind me.

"Is everything alright, Makoto?" she asked me. "Am I troubling you?"

"No! No! No! Not at all! It's not you…"

"What's going on? You can tell me…"

I sighed. "It's just that… I have… a crush on someone…"

"It's the President is it? Or is it Akeno?"

"Is it that obvious?" I asked. Koneko nodded and gave a thumbs up.

"I guess you could say it's both of them. The problem is that I can tell that they both _also_ have feelings for me as well. This may be overthinking, but I'm afraid that if I confess to one of them, the other one will get mad… or depressed… That's not even getting into what others who may or may not have feelings for me might think."

"Well, you don't have to worry about us!" Irina said. "Whoever you decide, I'll have your back!"

"I doubt that…" Xenovia commented.

"Hey! I will!"

"As a Knight, I'm sworn to serve Rias Gremory and her allies," Yuuto commented. "You helped me out once before, so I would be glad to return the favor and help you through any awkward relationship issues you may have."

"Same," Koneko said concisely.

"Yeah. We're your Knights!" Xenovia said, suddenly clenching her left fist. "If neither of them aren't willing to bear your children, then I'm more than happy to serve you!"

"Okay. Now you're making this weird," I said to her.

"I'm just saying. Your genes are quite impressive. That weird cat from earlier said it herself."

"Hey. I'm his childhood friend! I should have that responsibility!" Irina said.

"It was one summer, that's hardly grounds for 'childhood friend' material," Xenovia replied.

"And I thought angels would behave themselves in these matters…" Ravel commented as they started arguing, going back to reading her fashion magazine on the pool chair.

"It's gonna be okay, Makoto!" Asia said, hugging me. "We're here to help you! You'll get through this!"

"Everyone join in!" Irina said as she jumped in to start a group hug that Yuuto and Xenovia quickly followed.

Ravel then screeched as Koneko pushed her into the pool before jumping in herself to join the group hug.

Surprisingly, Ravel quickly recovered as she swam towards us with better technique than any of us.

"I didn't know you were such a good swimmer Ravel. I thought you didn't care for it!" Xenovia commented.

"I was taught when I was young, but water feels weird and it ruins my hair. But I guess I'm here for you too, Makoto."

"Thank you all. I feel a lot better."

* * *

I would have loved to help Makoto clean the pool, but I was already hit up by the President to help oversee her exchange with Milcom Amon.

I was in the Club Room with the President and Akeno, along with Lord Sirzechs and Lady Grayfia.

"I can see why Akeno is with us, but why did you choose me specifically?"

"If I had my way, I would have had the entire peerage here, but Sona had to hit Makoto up last minute and it didn't feel right having the four of them do it alone, so I let Yuuto, Koneko, and Ravel help him. I wanted you to stay because you were the one who defeated his prized Queen. That might discourage any funny business."

"Oh. I see…" I replied.

"Besides, I also wanted to ask you an unrelated question," she added. "I know this is kind of random, but why have you bought so much underwear recently?"

"A girl can't have too much underwear…"

"True."

"Trust me. I know Grayfia has accumulated quite the collection hersel-"

Lady Grayfia glared at Lord Sirzechs before he could finish that statement, and he began to chuckle nervously

Shortly after that, Milcom Amon and his two servants had teleported into the club room.

"Oh. Lord Sirzechs," Milcom said. "Glad to see you came to see this exchange between your sister and I."

"More like _over_ see to keep you from trying anything funny with my little sister."

"Who do you think I am? Diodora Astaroth? There's no reason for you not to trust me."

"After what you pulled with the House of Phenex, I have plenty of reasons. Not to mention that I know about you taking my little sister hostage to bait the White Dragon Emperor."

"And you and me both know that you don't have the evidence to prove my association with the Khaos Brigade in court. The advent of hypnotism has made mere testimony insufficient."

"That's enough, you two," Lady Grayfia demanded. "Let us focus on the issue at hand."

"Thank you, Lady Grayfia," Milcom said. "Are you ready to make the exchange, Lady Rias?"

The President nodded.

Milcom and the President stood on opposite sides of the magic circle in the room, with her unused Rook and Hagane inside the circle on their masters' respective side.

They lifted their hands and the circle began glowing red on the President's side and indigo on Milcom's side. The President's Rook and Hagane glowed the same color as the side they were on inside the circle, until after a few moments, they began glowing the opposite color.

The trade was complete.

The President outstretched her arms and Hagane walked over to her for a big hug as Milcom picked up what was now his unused Rook.

"I won't let you down, President!"

"I regret letting you go, but you seem, understandably, more comfortable with Rias Gremory. In a way, I'm glad."

"It wasn't you, Lord Milcom. I wanted to work for someone else besides the Goddess of Death. So, I jumped at the opportunity."

"As would I, but for now, my alliance with her is a means to an end."

"And what does that mean, Milcom?" The President asked him.

"I wish to offer you a warning. Both the Church's and the Underworld's conferences are in danger. I'm didn't wish to involve myself with this sort of attack, so I'd thought I'd give you a heads up."

"If it isn't by you, then whom?" Lord Sirzechs asked. "Is it someone else within the Khaos Brigade!?"

"Again, I am not involved, so I don't know for sure." Milcom said as he and his servants began to teleport out. "It was just something I overheard… from one high ranking devil to another."

* * *

And so there it was. My mother, a seraph, was having dinner with Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the four Demon Lords.

I know Christ dined with tax collectors, but this still seems wrong somehow.

"I know I said it earlier but thank you for being such a gracious host for my little sister."

"Think nothing of it." Mom replied to him as she pulled out a bottle of sake from one of the cabinets. "Anything for a fine young lady such as herself."

"That's wonderful. She was always such a good girl."

Rias was covering her face, which was becoming almost as red as her hair as I was sitting on the couch near her.

"Are you okay, Rias?" I asked.

"Oh. Nothing… Just… a little embarrassed that's all…"

"Tell me about it…"

"Oh!" Sirzechs exclaimed. "You actually got some of the local stuff! I'm surprised! You usually go for European wines."

"I just thought you would want to try it while you were here."

"I wouldn't mind that at all."

As Sirzechs poured out the sake, Mom commented, "I appreciate your men taking care of the damage that Kokabiel caused to campus so quickly!"

"Oh. It's nothing. Alternate dimension replicas and whatnot."

It definitely felt like nothing. The next day, it was like Kokabiel didn't even blow up the gym. I heard from Rias that her family helped establish the school. With how entrenched these devils are in the school, I was hardly surprised.

* * *

Later that evening, shortly after I showered and got into my pajamas, Sirzechs entered my room.

"Can't sleep?"

"Not in my room, no. Even though Lady Gabriel gave us a King-Size, Grayfia seems to not want to sleep with me. I guess she took my comment earlier personally. Is it a problem if I sleep in your room?"

"Not at all. Mom has a futon in the closet I can let you borrow."

"My. She definitely came prepared."

"You would think with how many bedrooms this place came with; she wouldn't need to keep one lying around. But alas."

Sirzechs quickly noticed the Xbox I had in my room and we spent the next couple hours playing on it. Never knew I would play deathmatch with a Demon Lord.

"I must say. For someone of your caliber, you have quite the skill," he said after I beat him for the second time.

"Thank you. I'm kinda new to this game, though."

"I was referring to your power. The way you were able to overpower even someone like Kokabiel."

"Hey. Mom defeated him. Not me."

"Even so, with your angelic power and your Balance Breaker, even in its incomplete form, I would argue your ranking is somewhere in the four, no, triple digits from the top.

"So, like, at least, Top 900?"

"At least."

"So, who would be number 1? You? Halja?"

"This world is full of strong beings. I don't even think I crack even the top 10."

I chuckled. "Nice to see the Demon Lord is humble."

"It pays to be in the position I'm in."

"I've been meaning to ask, but how can I more effectively use the power of Balance Breaker? The one time I was able to use it properly was when I siphoned the power of the Goddess of Death, and even then, it was for less than a minute."

"I don't know. You do have some powerful allies…"

He was deep in thought.

"What are you getting at?" I asked.

"Nah. I was just brainstorming. Forget I said anything."

And with that, I fell asleep in the same room as a Demon Lord. I'm not making this up.


	2. In the Name of the Underworld!

Y'know. I never considered her mother."

"Considered whose mother?" I asked Matsuda as I overheard the duo's conversation.

"Rias Gremory's mother. She may be here to see her daughter and that got me thinking… What if she's even hotter than her?"

"How would that be possible?" I responded. "I mean, she has to be 20 years older than her, at least. _Surely_ that radiant beauty must have faded off by now."

"Says the guy whose mother is up there with Rias and Akeno on the scale."

They have a point. I wasn't entirely honest with that last statement. If devil genetics are anything like angel genetics, I'm sure she's probably a mirror image of her daughter.

"Y'know," added Motohama. "I always thought the absurd amount of hot transfer students recently was because of Makoto's 'personality,' but you forget Rias also attracts the ladies as well. She might be assembling a team of beautiful ladies from around the world!"

That isn't far from the truth.

"That doesn't make you any less suspicious, though!" Matsuda commented to me.

"I still don't know where you get these ideas…"

"I know, right?" Aika said, "These boys just don't know when to stop daydreaming…"

She then grabbed my arm and adjusted her glasses.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"So, your fingernails _are_ cut short…"

"And that's significant because…"

"Well, I heard that it helps for a boy to keep his fingernails short whenever he's _active._ "

"What!? That's absurd!"

"I knew you were suspicious!" Matsuda exclaimed.

"Active in what?" Asia asked.

"Do _not_ answer that, Aika!" I responded.

Irina suddenly interjected.

"Hey! Don't be spreading malicious rumors about Makoto! He's too pure for that kinda stuff!"

Matsuda and Motohama's tone suddenly shifted to a joyfully obedient tone.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Anything for you!"

Of course they would listen to the cute new transfer student.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, if you _are_ planning to be active, I can get you protection."

After Xenovia said that, my face slammed back onto my desk.

It was not long after that I began hearing a clamor from the hallway and camera flashes.

I walked out into the hallway with Aika, Asia, Irina and Xenovia. Yuuto was already out there. Suspiciously, there wasn't being followed by a groupie like he normally was.

"What? Is some celebrity on campus?" I asked him.

"Apparently it's some witch doing a photoshoot."

We followed the crowd into the foyer. Aika had gone ahead of us, and we later found out why.

"Is that Serafall Leviathan in a _Magical Girl_ _Milky Spiral Seven_ cosplay!?" I exclaimed.

"Man. I haven't seen a cosplay that good in a while!" Aika commented, her glasses glistening as she adjusted them. "I've been watching it with someone for a contract. It's pretty good, but it's been going downhill since Season 3, the last three episodes weren't even canon!"

"I heard they're planning to get back on track with the upcoming Season 4."

"They'd better."

Saji, along with several other Student Council Members moved their way in front of Serafall attempting to dispel the crowd.

"Everybody get back to class! We can't be making a ruckus on Observation Day!"

"C'mon! That's BS!"

"Bye, Milky!"

They slowly began to disperse, continuing to bicker as they went back to their classrooms.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you can't be wearing that. It's against Dress Code."

"What? This _is_ my uniform!~" Serafall retorted to Saji.

"Are you, by chance, a parent or relative of someone here?" he asked.

"Should I tell him?" I asked Yuuto.

"What's going on, Saji?"

"Found you, So-tan~!" Serafall exclaimed as she noticed Sona walking up. "I see Makkun as well! I can't believe I finally get to meet you in in person."

Sona turned beet red as she gravitated towards her like a magnet, even redder than Rias was earlier. "Please stop calling us that…"

"Good grief," I muttered. "Nice to meet you too!"

"Hey, Serafall!" Sirzechs said as he walked in with another red-haired man carrying a camera.

"Ooh! Zeoticus-chan!" she exclaimed "Could you get a picture with me and Makkun?"

"Absolutely!" the man said.

She put one hand on my shoulder and flashed a peace sign with the other.

"Cheese!~" she cheered.

I smiled slightly awkwardly as he shot the picture, and the instant camera printed a copy.

"Sirzechs-chan, you have a pen?" Serafall asked.

"Absolutely," he said, apparently not caring that he was addressed as "Sirzechs-chan," as he passed a pen to Serafall, who proceeded to sign her copy of the photo and passed it on to me.

It was signed " _Levia-tan~_ _"_

"Thanks…"

"The White Dragon Emperor is a VIP any time~!"

"Well, it's a pleasant surprise to see you here, Lady Leviathan!" the other man said.

"I know. So-tan was such a meanie and didn't tell me about today! I was ready to use my wand to glitter through the entire Khaos Brigade~!"

"Please don't glitter…" Sona commented. "You'll take the entirety of Japan down with them."

Those are quite the maou-gical girl powers. I'd kill to see an anime of that.

"What's wrong, So-tan? I thought you missed me! I was expecting us to embrace each other in sisterly love while calling out each other's names! Or is it more than sisterly love?"

"Please, sister… I… I can't let you just come in here with _that outfit_ and acting like a magical girl!"

"But I _am_ a magical girl!"

"And here I thought Sona and her sister had a falling out," I commented to Saji. "Looks like it's actually the opposite."

"Yeah, with how much Lady Leviathan is doting on the Class President, you would think that _she_ is the little sister, and not the other way around."

Eventually, Sona began to burst into tears and ran off and Serafall began chasing after her followed by Saji.

"Good grief… The Demon Lord, ladies and gentlemen!"

"Don't worry, she's always like this. The other Demon Lords aren't much better when they're off the clock, either." the cameraman said to me, chuckling, with Sirzechs nodding in approval.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I am Rias' father, Zeoticus Gremory."

"Pleased to meet you!"

"If you'll excuse me, I got to get to my dear daughter's class. Me and my son plan to have dinner with you, I hope to see you then!"

* * *

"How the hell did you get her autograph!?" Matsuda asked, "We were all run off by the Student Council!"

"Well… I happen to be a friend of hers!"

"Yeah… I bet it's with benefits too…" Motohama muttered.

"For the last time, I'm not the type of guy to just have casual…"

I didn't finish that sentence as the room began to be filled with eager parents.

Goodness, this is starting to feel like Elementary School.

During class, we forgoed the typical lecture in favor of an arts and crafts project. The teacher said it was another form of communication. I still don't see what this has to do with English, but whatever.

We were all given a block of polymer clay and we were asked to make it into "whatever comes to mind."

The problem is, I'm the type of guy usually with nothing on my mind. That makes that particular task a bit troublesome.

The amount of eager parents surrounding us wasn't helping. At least my mom isn't-

Oh wait, there she is. She managed to escape the Counselor's Office.

Shoot. This is bad. I gotta think of something. Even Matsuda has gotten started. Either that or he's just pretending the clay is a boob.

The only thing that was on my mind was Serafall. She was so odd. I thought Demon Lords were supposed to be intimidating, but I just saw one of them roleplaying as a magical girl. And Rias' father said that the other Demon Lords are like this as well.

Now that I think about it, Sirzechs isn't the Demon Lord type either. I was just playing video games with him last night. I wonder what the others are like.

And there was also that thing Sona said about Serafall being able to blow Japan to kingdom come if she did so much as "glitter." To think someone as childish as her could be that deadly…

"Wow, Fujiwara! Nice work!"

I looked at my clay as I heard the Teacher say that and I had turned it into an impressive figurine of Serafall in her _Milky Spiral Seven_ costume. She was even doing the "Milky Milky Spiral" pose. I've seen figurines that cost serious money that didn't look nearly as good.

How the hell…

I remember learning that using magic comes from the mind, but I didn't know that also carried over to arts and crafts.

"You got her autograph _and_ you made that figure?" Aika said. "You must be more into that show than I thought."

I shrugged.

"I have once again drawn out the hidden talents of one of my students," the teacher wiped away a tear. "I love my job."

Then the class became an auction house.

"I'll give you ¥100 for Milky!"

"Get out of here with your broke ass! ¥1,000!"

"¥5,000!"

"Milky is mine! ¥8,000!"

Then somebody casually dropped a bunch of bills onto my desk.

"¥100,000"

* * *

Riser Phenex was carrying the figure he had bought off me as we walked down the hall during the Lunch break.

I've become quite the budding entrepreneur. This is a proud moment.

We approached where Ravel was talking with a young woman until she noticed us.

"Big brother! Is that-?"

"Yes. I got this figure of Lady Leviathan that Makoto made himself!"

"Amazing!" she exclaimed. "I've always wanted a Levia-tan figure! Thank you very much, Makoto!"

"It was nothing," I said, chuckling.

"Pleased to meet you, Makoto." the woman said. "I'm Lady Phenex, Riser and Ravel's mother. Riser said he wanted to come see how his little sister is doing. I'm here to make sure he isn't actually trying to hit on Lady Rias again…"

Riser nervously chuckled. "I told you mother, I'm over it…"

"Right… Because all those photos you still keep of her don't have anything to do with that."

There was then a flash of blue light and Serafall jumped out.

"Uh, Serafall, you can't just teleport in public like that…" I commented.

"Oops! My bad! I just lost track of where So-tan ran off to and I heard someone's making sweet merchandise of me!"

Riser pointed to me and Ravel showed my figure.

"Ooh! This is the best one yet! No company has even come close to this quality! You should be my official merchandiser!"

I chuckled. "I'm sorry. I don't even know how I did it."

"Well. If you can figure out how to duplicate this, call me. There's definitely a valuable proposition in there for you!"

She then bolted off, probably to continue searching for Sona.

* * *

Rias was flipping through channels on her TV in her bedroom until we found a murder-mystery program we both liked.

I was sitting next to her desk. The reason we had retreated back here is because… well… the relatives were starting to get embarrassing.

I was initially curious about the video my mother had made, since I was still curious as to how the heck I made that figure of Serafall. Though, she still seemed to be more interested in Asia.

After watching it, I'm even more confused…

Then Rias' father connected his camera, much to Rias' protest.

Rias, both in the film and in person, was looking incredibly flustered. Even I was getting second-hand awkwardness.

"Let's get out of here…" I said to her.

"Very much, yes."

Even then, we could still faintly hear the chatter from downstairs.

"Oh, look Ria-tan is raising her hand to answer the question!"

"Good lord. How much have they drank?"

"This must be a new level of hell…"

"And you came from hell!"

She got a chuckle out of that.

"I'm sorry you had to see such an uncool side of me," she said.

"Hey. I'll always think you're cool. I know those who would kill to have a friend like you."

After a loaded silence, she said, "By the way, my brother said something to me that you ought to know…"

"What is it?"

It was then that Asia came in the room.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but watching them is getting too much!"

"You're welcome to join us," Rias said to her. "Have a seat on my bed."

"Thank you, President!"

The scene we were currently watching was particularly creepy, but then there was a jump scare and Asia suddenly clung to Rias, who was still quite enjoying it. Meanwhile, I was still glued to the screen, trying to piece together who the killer was.

However, a completely different mystery suddenly turned up.

"Everyone! Get downstairs!" Mother said, "Something's happened!"

We followed her all the way down to the basement and into the armory, where something was missing!

One of the cases had been broken into!

"Ascalon is gone!" Mother exclaimed.

"Did you have any idea who took it, Lady Gabriel?" Rias' father asked.

"No. I just went down here to see if there was anything I wanted to show you two and I saw it was gone…"

"Do you think it's the Purist Faction again?" Xenovia asked.

"No. They currently don't have a leader." I said. "They're too scattered to pull a stunt like this right now."

"I was about to tell you, Makoto." Rias said. "My brother told me the Khaos Brigade is planning to make a move on the conference here. This may have something to do with this."

"How so?"

"When Milcom Amon exchanged his servant, he said that 'Both the Church and Underworld's conferences are in danger.' He clarified that he wasn't involved and he doesn't know exactly who." Sirzechs explained. "All he said was that he overheard plans of an attack."

"What are we going to do?" Asia asked.

"I'm meeting with someone this weekend," I said. "She may have an idea."


	3. Who Do You Trust?

I arrived at the meeting place downtown about fifteen minutes early.

This particular spot is oddly nostalgic, as it was where I technically had my "first date."

It's weird that I feel this way about this spot, as said first date tried to kill me at the climax of the date.

Granted, I was expecting someone to try and kill me after the events of the previous night, but it was still a buzzkill considering the date was going so well.

Though, maybe this nostalgia was because this was where everything started with me and the Occult Research Club.

"Earth to Makoto?"

Yuma had arrived as I was reminiscing.

"You actually kept your promise. I'm glad!"

"An angel keeps his word…"

I noticed the dress she was wearing. I expected her to wear that same dress from before, but she is now wearing a different, much brighter one.

"You like it? It was the one I picked the first time."

"You actually kept the dress?"

"Duh! Why would I buy a dress and then just discard it?"

"Well, a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one."

"C'mon! Let's have an actual first date!"

We began retracing our steps through the last date, including the restaurant.

"Wait a second, Yuma." I said. "I don't have my mom's Credit Card with me."

"Don't worry. I'll cover it this time!"

She pulled out a credit card of her own.

"I've been meaning to ask, but where did you end up settling down? You said you were on the run earlier."

"Oh. Baraqiel ended up taking me in."

Baraqiel? As in Akeno's father?

She continued after we were seated.

"He got me reinstated into the Grigori after I helped you save his daughter. I had thought the organization had gone extinct after what happened to Azazel, but he and Lord Shemhazai had brought it back together."

"Did he mention his daughter often?"

"Frequently. He said he wanted to make up for failing her before."

All this time, I had thought he didn't care. But Shuri's death must have hurt him as much as it hurt my mom and Akeno, especially since now he's estranged from his daughter because he didn't make it in time, just like it felt for my mom when she was too late to save my dad.

"I see…"

"Lord Shemhazai then assembled a group that included another runaway…"

"Kuroka?"

She nodded, "Along with a Sigurd Institution clone that wasn't a _complete_ sociopath – Lint Sellzen. She's the Vatican's representative on the Grigori."

"Probably the only one who actually wanted the job."

She nodded, "I was recently asked to transfer to your school for the time being due to the threat of an attack."

"An attack?" I commented. "You mean by the Khaos Brigade?"

"Yes. During the Vatican's Conference. The three of us are supposed to keep an eye out."

"Did you hear anything about stealing a Holy Sword?"

"No. That's the first I've heard about that. Why?"

"… No reason…"

We were about finished eating at that point. I then noticed someone familiar among the waiters.

"I'm gonna run by the restroom. I'll meet you outside."

She nodded and began walking out.

I stood up as the waiter approached my table to collect the dishes.

"I didn't know you worked here, Yuuto."

"I asked a student whom I know worked here if I could cover his shift this evening so I could keep an eye out."

"I got this under control, but thank you."

"When you said you were meeting with a girl this weekend who might know, I had no idea you were referring to _her_."

"Well, I'm getting the feeling there's less of a chance for me to get stabbed at the end this time, so that's something."

"Did you get any information about the attack?"

"Other than the Grigori sent her and those two oddballs from earlier to keep an eye on it, nothing. She doesn't even know anything about who stole Ascalon or why."

"That's a bummer…" Yuuto noticed a customer waiting for a table. "I gotta get back to work, see ya."

I waved goodbye as I went to meet up with Yuma in the Lobby.

After we did some more activities together, my first actual date with Yuma concluded.

The sun was going down and we were approaching the same park fountain that ended our last date.

She reached out her hand for me to hold, but something was wrong.

"Yuma," I began "I have something to tell you."

"Your heart belongs to someone else, does it?"

"You could tell? I thought you said- Oh wait, that was just a really stupid nightmare."

"After the horrible things I did, I wouldn't blame you. I tried to kill you and I threatened to kill Asia."

Well shoot. I made her depressed. I can't end a date like this! I need to say something to cheer her up!

"Well… But you didn't!"

Damn it, Makoto! That one's shit! Think of a better one.

"I only asked you for a second date so I could have a chance to make things right," she said. "But we both know that's not the case."

"Maybe in an alternate timeline where you _did_ kill Asia and turn into a power-hungry sociopathic bitch, I wouldn't able to forgive you. But you weren't. You're a different person now. You trusted me to help you defeat Halja even when I didn't trust you. I may have moved on, but at the very least, I can now trust you… and forgive you."

…

"I'm sorry, that was way too cheesy, let me try again."

"No. You've said enough. Could you do something for me?"

That may have worked. I may be about to finish a date without getting stabbed.

I closed my eyes and chuckled. This is likely going to be option A instead of B.

*STAB*

I heard a slashing sound go through someone, but it wasn't me!

I opened my eyes. Yuma had been run through with a spear of light!

"Well, well. The culprit returns to the scene of the crime," said Mittelt. "It's funny, the only one dying at 'heaven's evening daze' is yourself."

"Yuma!" I exclaimed, rushing to heal her. I nearly closed the wound before Mittelt tried to attack me with her spear, which I slashed right through with Excalibur Mimic.

"A holy sword, huh? Still not close in power to the one we got our hands on!"

"What!? You're the one who stole Ascalon?"

Mittelt laughed. "No. Not me. Someone else I worked with snuck in during you and the Gremory families' revelry. I don't understand why you choose to associate with impure beings."

Yuma coughed. I can't believe that I'm glad that Yuma survived.

"Speak for yourself, you traitorous fallen angel." she said, weakly.

"That's where you're wrong, Raynare."

I fired off my Power of Retribution at Mittelt, but she got out of the way using her… white angel wings?

"Rias Gremory's power didn't stop me. Don't go thinking yours will be any different."

"Impossible! But how?" Yuma exclaimed as she noticed Mittelt's new wings and halo.

"Unlike you, I've risen above seeking approval from your Daddy," she said. "I've been purified by pledging my service to a real angel."

"What angel!?" I questioned, "Your master murdered them all!"

"Not all of them!"

She was then interrupted by a bolt of lightning that she narrowly dodged.

"I will not let you harm them!" Akeno exclaimed.

Mittelt scoffed and flew off.

"My my. That one just doesn't know when to give up…" Akeno said.

I ran over to where Yuma had fallen unconscious. I sighed in relief when I confirmed she still had a pulse.

"Is she alive?"

"Yes."

"Thank goodness. I heard what you said to her."

"It wasn't too cringy, was it?"

"No. You were was sweet as always."

* * *

Yuma woke up a little under an hour later on my bed with me and Asia nearby.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"My house," I responded. "Don't worry. You're safe here. Asia finished healing you."

"… Thank you."

"When Mittelt mentioned your father back then, was she referring to…"

"Azazel? Yes."

"Azazel was your father?" Asia asked.

"Like he cared. He was with so many women that he wouldn't notice the result of one of his little flings. Naturally, my birth mother wasn't able to care for me, and when my wings started to grow, I was considered cursed and the orphanage ran me off. It was then that Halja gave me an offer I couldn't refuse.

When I came across Asia and her Sacred Gear shortly after I tried to kill you, I thought it was my chance to prove to Azazel that I was worthy, but when I boasted of this to the other fallen angels, they told me the truth.

'Didn't you hear!? Lady Halja obliterated him. He's gone!'

That was when I sought to take down that goddess. We hatched a plan to use the order to extract her Sacred Gear as an opportunity to seek your help in private."

I needed a second to take all of that in.

"I don't know if I mentioned this earlier. But I apologize for doubting you before."

"It's okay," she said. "I lied to you before. You had no reason to trust me…"

I sighed. "Feel free to stay the night here if you want. My mom can prepare a room for you." I said to her.

"That won't be necessary. I have an apartment," she said as she walked out the door.

Asia and I followed her, "Wait a second!"

She was about to walk out the front door as I made it to the Living Room.

"Do you want to die, Yuma Amano?"

Yuma glared back at Rias as she asked that.

"Makoto and I can guarantee your safety here. But if you choose to go back, whoever tried to kill you earlier will likely be waiting for you."

Akeno was standing next to her. "I know what you're going through. You can trust us. If you need another fallen angel to talk to, I'm here."

Yuma sighed, "Alright… I accept."

As Yuma went back upstairs, Rias sighed. "I knew I should have killed her when I had the chance…"

"Akeno _just_ told her to trust us…" I commented.

"I wasn't referring to Yuma," Rias replied. "I had killed Dohnaseek earlier, but Mittelt got away, and now she tried to attack you… I'm sorry if you think this is my fault."

"I would _never_ blame you for anything like that."

"Didn't Mittelt mention something about a holy sword?" Akeno asked.

"Yes. She said one of her buddies somehow got in and took Ascalon while Mom was busy entertaining your family. That means the Khaos Brigade now has their hands on Ascalon."

"This is troubling," Rias commented. "If the thief attacks the conference, we could be in serious danger."

* * *

Matsuda's head was face-down on the desk.

"Hey, man. Something going on?" Motohama said to him.

"I just... never got to see Rias' mother…"

"You're still hung up about that?" I asked.

"Of course I am! We had this passionate discussion about this, and our research has reached a dead-end."

Since when was this subject considered "research?"

"Unless…" Motohama began. "You've infiltrated Rias Gremory's inner circle, right, Makoto?"

"'Infiltrated' isn't the word I would use, but yes."

"What if you can convince Rias' mother to come down here to the school?"

I really shouldn't tell them that I would have to travel to the Underworld to accomplish that…

"And if she or Rias asks why, do I say it's because two of the school's biggest perverts want to ogle her?"

"Obviously not!" Matsuda said. "Just say something about her daughter missing her dearly and she wants to see her too!"

Yes. Because Rias would definitely be _thrilled_ to have another doting relative down here.

"And besides," Motohama said, adjusting his glasses. "This isn't just mere 'ogling,' I have to see how she _compares_ to her daughter."

"I'll see what I can do…" I dismissively responded, as Matsuda suddenly looked out the window.

"No way! Is that Akeno walking with that new transfer student!?"

Indeed, it was Akeno and Yuma walking together. It seems that they've hit off quite well after last night. That comment about being a fallen angel may have helped.

"It's like they're long-lost sisters or cousins or something…" Motohama commented.

Akeno appeared to notice me in the window as she began waving at me.

"Did Akeno just wave at me!?" Motohama exclaimed.

"No, you idiot! She was waving at me!" Matsuda retorted.

* * *

The next morning, Rias and her peerage had packed their bags to travel to the Underworld for the Conference and I, along with Asia, Xenovia, and Irina, went with them to the train station to see them off.

"I never knew I could go to Hell on that train…" I commented as we arrived at the station.

"No, not on _that_ train…" Rias responded. "There's a separate train we'll be taking."

We all went inside an elevator. While the buttons indicated you could only take it up to the second floor, Rias swiped a card, and we began going down.

"Exclusive subway station?" I asked.

"In a sense, yes." Rias replied. "There are other areas exclusive to devils throughout this town."

Yep, there is _definitely_ some devil deep-state shit going on here.

What we were greeted to when we exited the elevator was a cavern inside what appeared to be the void. It was structured similarly to a train platform, but the little things like the wall lamps gave it a very arcaney vibe.

As the train arrived, I noticed the Gremory family sigil like the ones on her magic circles engraved onto it.

"I assume your family owns this train?" I asked Rias

Akeno giggled. "It would be easier to point out what her family _doesn't_ own in this town."

As the train stopped, Rias said to me. "Well…"

Awkward silence.

"I guess I'll see you soon," I broke the silence as the two of us hugged and they began entering the train.

Shortly after all of them boarded and the rest of us were about to leave, Akeno rushed out and pecked my cheek.

"Can't have Rias give you _all_ the affection, can I?"

Rias poked her head out of the train door. "Akeno! The train's about to leave!" she said in a quite frustrated tone.

She waved goodbye at me as she walked back to get back aboard the train.

As we headed back, Xenovia commented, "Now I see why you were concerned about confessing to one of them."

"Yes. There's obviously a serious love triangle going on, potentially a square or pentagon."

"So, what are we gonna do about the club while they're gone?" Irina asked.

"I guess we're in charge now…" I said.


	4. Traitor's Requiem

“So now that everyone’s here, we should nominate someone to be acting President.”

“I nominate Makoto!” Irina raised her hand and answered immediately after I announced that.

“Well that was quick…” I responded.

“I mean, you are our leader,” Irina commented. “It would make sense for you to act as President of the Club in the absence of Rias and Akeno.”

“Okay… Any objections?”

No comment.

“Okay. Now we need someone to be Vice President.”

I didn’t get as instant a response on that one.

“I have to think on that one a bit more…” Xenovia commented. “Both us and the Student Council have a Queen piece as Vice President, but we don’t have that one yet…”

“Hey, Asia, you’ve been with him the longest, haven’t you?” Irina asked.

“Eh!?”

“She has a point,” Xenovia said. “I believe Akeno was also the President’s longest colleague. I nominate Asia.”

“Any objections?” I asked.

“I’ll do it!” Asia said, clenching her fists in determination.

There was then a flash of light followed by an explosion of confetti.

“Ta-da! Levia-tan has returned to grace this school with her presence!”

“Serafall!?” I exclaimed. “I thought you were with the Underworld conference.”

“Well, after we heard about that little incident with the holy sword, they decided to send Ajukun and I to provide further security. Sirzechs-chan and Falbium will stay and protect the Underworld.”

“Big sister, you shouldn’t barge in like that!”

Sona had entered the room, closely followed by a man with slicked-back green hair.

“We need to get into position, Leviathan…” he said.

Serafall sighed and began following the man out. “Yes, Ajukun…”

“And for the last time, it’s Ajuk _a_ …”

“What’s going on, Class President?” Irina asked her.

“Just wanted to let you know that the representatives will be arriving shortly. I would appreciate if the Occult Research Club sent a couple representatives to meet them.”

“Well, I think we just figured that out. Let’s go!”

Asia and I followed Sona out where we met up with Tsubaki and we went up to the front of the school. Mother was also with us.

Shortly afterwards, a group of limousines pulled up to the gate.

I noticed each of them had a small sigil on them that was similar to the ones on the train, but they looked slightly different and was blue.

“Your family owns those?” I asked Sona.

“Yes. My family is providing transport to the representatives.”

Out of the first limousine emerged a young woman in priestess garb. As far as I could tell she was quite pretty, but she also had a slightly intimidating aura about her.

“It’s so nice to see you again, Sister Griselda!” Mother said to her.

“It’s nice to see you too, Lady Gabriel,” Sister Griselda said to her. “When I heard about what happened to the angels in Heaven, I feared the worst. Thank the Lord you managed to find refuge here.”

“It was a miracle, yes…”

“And you must be Miss Xenovia’s new caretaker,” she said, turning to me.

I froze up for a second. “You could say that. Yes.”

Judging by that comment, this must be the same Sister that Mom said was Xenovia’s old caretaker.

“I’m glad someone like you is keeping an eye on her. She was always quite the impulsive type…”

Mother giggled. “Let’s talk together! We have so much to catch up on!”

As Mom and Sister Griselda were walking in, I noticed, after a limousine full of priests and priestesses, an old man with an eyepatch came out the following car who was closely followed by a woman with long silver hair and a well-built bearded man with black hair, both of whom were much better dressed than the old man.

“Well, if it isn’t the Legendary White Dragon Boy!” the old man said. “Legendary with the ladies, I might add, as well…”

“Will you please behave yourself, Lord Odin!?” the silver haired woman exclaimed. “That’s our host’s son!”

“Relax, young Rossweisse. That was a mere jest!”

Odin? As in one of the chief gods of Norse Myth? This must be a pretty serious meeting if we have not only Church leaders, but leaders of other religions…

“I will help you from here,” Tsubaki said. “Let’s go inside.”

“Don’t mind if I do, young lady!” Odin said as he and Rossweisse followed her in.

Meanwhile, the other man approached me.

“Excuse me, might I have a word with you? You’re Makoto Fujiwara, right?”

“Yes, sir…”

“I have heard of the kindness you have shown to Yuma. I have no doubt you have shown even greater kindness to my daughter. I just wanted to say thank you.”

He then followed Odin and Rossweisse in. No doubt that must have been Baraqiel, Akeno’s fallen angel father.

Shortly afterwards, the group had a preliminary meeting. I was to join them later for the first big meeting later on.

* * *

After they broke for Dinner, Sona invited us to her house, and by house, I mean mansion.

“Oh wow!” Irina exclaimed.

“And I thought our house was fancy…” I commented.

I knocked on the door.

We were greeted by Saji. “Oh, hey, Makoto! Glad to see you came!”

We walked in and were greeted by the rest of the Student Council, accompanied by Serafall.

“Hey Makkun!”

Xenovia rubbed her hands together and asked, “Okay. What’s for Dinner?”

“You don’t just ask the host that right as you come in!” Irina muttered.

“Well…” Sona said.

“You can do it, of course!” Serafall said to her. “You’re an amazing cook!”

Saji chuckled nervously while the rest of the Student Council looked terrified, obviously afraid to protest otherwise.

Sona was turning red and trembling. “But… Big sister…”

It was obvious she had no confidence in her cooking. And, judging by the Student Council’s response, she had plenty of reason not to.

“I can do it!” Asia volunteered.

The entire Student Council, including Sona, breathed a sigh of relief. Serafall, meanwhile, looked disappointed.

A while later, we all dug into the soup that Asia had made.

“Wow. This is good, Asia!” said Saji.

“Yes. This is very good.” Sona commented.

“Thank you! Ms. Gabriel had been teaching me all about it!”

“Amazing. This is almost as good as So-tan’s cooking!” said Serafall.

Sona gave a happy sigh, “Come on, big sister, be reasonable…”

Everyone started laughing.

* * *

We arrived back at the school as the cars returned to campus.

As Baraqiel and Odin got out of the car, Baraqiel asked him, “Wait a second. Aren’t we missing someone?”

“I assumed Miss Rossweisse went with another group…”

Baraqiel looked around and sighed, “No. She did not.”

“Well, that’s odd…” Odin mused.

“It’s _not_ odd. You’re the one who’s supposed to be responsible for her!”

Baraqiel turned to us. “Excuse me, Makoto. This is embarrassing, but could you go into town and find Miss Rossweisse for us? She was the silver-haired woman who was with us earlier.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“I’ll make sure to get you caught up when you get back,” Sona said.

* * *

Baraqiel had handed me the tab for their meal so I could find where they were last.

We took the train and headed down to the restaurant where I talked with one of the cashiers.

“Excuse me, but I’m supposed to meet up with a woman here. Nice suit, silver hair, about my height.”

“I’m sorry, but I believe the person you’re referring to left just a few minutes ago. She looked quite distressed. You didn’t break her heart, by any chance?”

“No, but I think I know someone who did...”

“Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.”

“No that’s fine. Take care!”

I began heading back out to find where she ran off too, until…

“I have an idea where she went, nya.”

Kuroka had intercepted us.

Xenovia whipped out Durandal.

“Easy, Xenovia,” I said. “I believe she’s on our side.”

“You’re not reproducing with Makoto and that’s final!” Xenovia exclaimed.

“Can we go five minutes without one of you bringing up my junk?”

“Relax. If I wanted to do that, I would have met him privately next to one of those hotels, nya,” Kuroka assured. “I spotted a peculiar-looking lady bolting out of this establishment a few moments ago towards that tavern across the street.”

“Goodness. He wasn’t wrong about her being distressed,” Irina commented.

We crossed the street and entered the bar that Kuroka pointed out. Sure enough, Rossweisse had just sat down at the bar table.

“A beer please. The biggest one you got,” she said to the bartender in a sullen voice.

“Uh… Can I see your ID, ma’am?”

“Excuse me,” I interrupted. “I’m here to take her home.”

“And who are you supposed to be!?” some guy sitting near her snapped at me, “Her dad!?”

“Yes. Now back off, creep.”

“About time _someone_ remembered me…” Rossweisse muttered.

I gently grabbed her arm and escorted her outside.

While I was in the bar, Asia had gotten a bottled water from a nearby vending machine and gave it to her as I got her to a bench.

“Is everything alright, Rossweisse?” I asked. “What happened?”

She downed the water in one shot.

“That dummy, Lord Odin, has left me behind yet again!”

She began bursting into tears.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to,” Irina replied. “He probably just forgot, that’s all…”

“Yeah, he forgot! He was too busy flirting outrageously with the waitress to remember. And she had a boyfriend, unlike me, who will always remain a virgin Valkyrie!”

I have no idea how to calm her down at this point. Guess I’ll do the thing that always works…

I patted her on the head and said, “It’s gonna be okay. We’ll get you back to the meeting.”

She looked startled for a second, but finally appeared to relax, wiping her eyes.

“Thank you. You are too kind…”

“It is _not_ gonna be okay!”

Yuma suddenly appeared with Lint.

“What’s going on?” Xenovia asked.

* * *

“Alright,” I announced. “Now that most of us are here, let us begin the meeting.”

“Lady Gabriel! Question.” one of the Church representatives called out. “Why is there a fallen angel and a pagan god among us today?”

“Looks like someone didn’t read the briefing we sent out…” Sister Griselda commented.

In spite of Griselda’s calm demeanor, the representative looked terrified.

“In case you weren’t informed,” I said. “Both us and the devils decided to invite a representative from the fallen angels and other mythologies. Especially in light of the attacks by Kokabiel, we need to make sure that we have as much support as we can.”

“Do you have any comment, Baraqiel? Odin?” Sister Griselda asked.

“After Kokabiel’s attack, we need to prove that the fallen angels as a whole are still keeping to our bargain.” Baraqiel said, “I would imagine Lord Shemhazai would say the same to the devils.”

“Hey. We’re cool!” Odin commented.

“Does that clear things up?” I asked the representative.

“Oh… Exactly…” he said.

Something’s going on.

I then saw a flash of light outside and, all of a sudden, the barrier that Sona has put up was shattered!

The representative along with two others then pulled out a sword of light! Baraqiel and I were about to attack them, until…

“Don’t make any rash moves, Gabriel. I will not hesitate to obliterate everyone in this room.”

I saw another flash of light just outside the door. Three of the guards who were stationed outside entered the room. As they lowered their hoods, I recognized the blonde-haired woman in the middle

“Traitor!” I exclaimed.

“That’s quite a rude accusation, Gabriel. We haven’t seen each other in so long…”

“You opened the Holy System to Halja and the Khaos Brigade, didn’t you, Iblis!?”

“Heaven was long overdue for a new ruler. When one presented itself, I simply offered my services.”

“And yet innocent women like Asia Argento are allowed to be shunned while people like you remain pure!?”

“The Catholic Church is a false denomination. Always has been. We simply nudged her in the way to truly serve our God.”

“You watch your tongue!” Sister Griselda exclaimed.

“You watch your place.” Iblis retorted, summoning an imposing straight spear in her direction. “This is the Spear of Longinus, one half of the True Longinus that Lady Halja allowed to remain for her service. It cut through that pathetic barrier those devils put up for you heathens and will very easily cut through any of you.”

“A true god would never allow the violence you and your master intend to do,” Baraqiel commented.

“Would that be the same ‘true god’ that allowed his people to purge the surrounding nations so they can inhabit a so-called ‘promised land’ and later chose to cast you out, turning a blind eye when he allowed your wife to be killed and your daughter to disown you?”

“That was _your_ god who allowed that to happen, you templar.”

“Whatever the case, this is now a hostage situation. I will only set you free if the devils relinquish their control of this town to us.”

“Madam,” one of the guards said to Iblis, “A group is approaching the school.”

“Mittelt. Deal with them…”

* * *

All of us rushed to the front of the school. Sona’s barrier had been replaced with a red barrier.

“What happened?” I asked Sona, who looked heavily battered.

“Someone infiltrated the school and managed to shatter our barrier. They immediately replaced it with this one.”

“I alerted Yuma about the threat when I noticed some… unique faces among the Church’s guards.” Lint stated. “But it all happened before you could even get here.”

“None of us have been able to break it,” Saji said, “Not even…”

Someone set off several explosions on the barrier that worked about as much as fireworks.

“Well that’s unfortunyate,” Kuroka commented.

“Big sister! You already tried that! It’s not working!”

“Aw man!” Serafall exclaimed. “Even with a small fraction of my power, I thought I could do it. I guess I’ll just have to…”

She began to sparkle.

“No, Lady Leviathan!” Ajuka said to her. “Using _that_ much power will cause too much collateral damage!”

“Shoot.”

“Well, look what we have here!”

Mittelt appeared near us.

“Oh, this will be easy!” Serafall said, beginning to sparkle again.

“Wait a second!” Yuma said. “I’ll deal with this traitor.”

“As far as I can see, Raynare, you not only betrayed Lady Halja, but you also betrayed yourself.”

They both summoned spears of light and attacked each other.

“It’s hopeless, Raynare,” Mittelt taunted Yuma as they clashed spears, “a fake angel like you has no chance against a true one like me!”

“You’re the fake, Mittelt.”

Mittelt lunged in retaliation, knocking Yuma back. She then threw spears of light of her. She deflected the first one, but the second one grazed her side.

Yuma winced in pain.

However, Asia rushed in and healed the injury that Mittelt incurred.

“After what she did to you, you still stand up for her?” Mittelt asked Asia.

“She may have been cold when I first met her, but I now know she was one of the first people I could trust, unlike you!”

“I remember now, you were a traitor too!” Mittelt said. “You get to die as well!”

Mittelt hurled a light spear at Asia, but Yuma used a spear of her own to shatter it in midair!

“Impossible!” Mittelt exclaimed. “I’m a pure angel, I should be stronger!”

“After all that, you are still a low-level grunt, Mittelt.”

Something about Yuma’s statement sent Mittelt into a fury and she charged straight at her.

Yuma summoned a spear that emanated an intense aura. As Mittelt hurled herself at her, Yuma hurled the spear at her.

There was a huge explosion of light as the spear hit Mittelt, her horrifed face displaying for a split second before she vanished into dust.

“I suspected she might be a disappointment. I guess she hasn’t improved much from her performance against Rias Gremory…”

That voice came from behind the enemy barrier

“So, it _was_ you who was behind this scheme, Iblis!” Sona exclaimed.

“Now, I don’t deserve all the credit. You can thank my husband for part of it.”

“What husband!?” Saji inquired.

“And what have you done with Ascalon!?” I added.

“Those question do not apply now,” Iblis responded. “What matters is you cannot interfere. This barrier prevents pests like you and the Demon Lords from interfering until the Underworld agrees to relinquish their control of this town to us.”

“I’ll relinquish you of your head, traitor!” Xenovia retorted.

“Good luck with that…” Iblis responded as she walked back into the school.

“Good grief,” I commented. “How are we going to get in and kick her ass?”

“Given how easily she defeated Kokabiel, shouldn’t your mom be able to take her on easily?”

“I was listening in to the conversation that was going on inside.” Sona commented. “If she or Baraqiel makes any false moves on her, she puts the rest of the group in danger. Halja has given her half of True Longinus.”

“Then I will have to find a way to get past her and this barrier quickly.” I said, “But how?”

“The only way I can think of is to find a way to activate Balance Breaker.” Irina noted.

“I do have some powerful allies…”

“What are you getting at?” Saji asked.

“Sirzechs said something along those lines when I asked him about my Sacred Gear. This might be a way to activate my Balance Breaker!”

“I suppose by ‘powerful allies,’ you are referring to us two?” Serafall asked me.

“Exactly. You alone weren’t able to break this barrier, but I think I have a way to combine both of your power!”

“How exactly?” Ajuka asked.

I summoned my Sacred Gear and Serafall’s eyes lit up.

“Dividing Gear may have uses beyond taking the power of my enemies. Perhaps it can be of use for allies to lend their strength!”

“As in, letting you Divide our power?” asked Ajuka.

“Exactly!”

“That actually sounds like it might work!” Serafall said, holding her arm out.

Ajuka followed by holding his arm out over hers.

“I’ll contribute mine too, nya.” Kuroka commented as she held out hers as well, “There’s a reason I became such a notorious stray devil…”

“Well…” I stated. “What’s your opinion Albion?”

_“That will certainly give you enough power. Your current mana pool alone may not be enough to withstain taking in the power of the two Demon Lords and the nekomata, but this may be our only shot to take down Iblis.”_

“Only one way to find out…” I said as I held out my right arm with the Dividing Gear out over theirs.

As I joined the group huddle, there was a great flash of light!

“ _DIVIDE!!”_

And accompanying that, I felt a massive surge of power flowing through me. Initially, I felt a searing pain, but as this power spread throughout my body, the pain began to phase out into adrenaline!

I turned my attention towards the school and the enemy’s barrier.

“Let’s rock!” I announced.

I leapt into the sky and began to glow a brilliant white.

“ _VANISHING DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER!”_

“He actually did it!” Irina exclaimed as I charged at the barrier in midair, having transformed into my Scale Mail.

Glowing with my Retribution aura, I drove my fist straight through the barrier.

Sure enough, the attack applied a considerable amount of force to the barrier, causing it to crack… and eventually shatter!

I charged straight through an upper-floor window (sorry, Sona) and made a beeline towards the conference room. My greatest priority is to put a stop to Iblis’ scheme before she can harm any innocent people!


	5. Angel v. Angel!

“Falbium, will you wake up already?”

Lord Sirzechs was rapping on his door.

He was getting no response. Then Lady Grayfia stepped in.

“Lord Asmodeus, would you please get dressed? The meeting starts in a few minutes.”

Mere moments later, Lord Falbium was dressed and out the door.

He yawned. “Alright. I’m up. Let’s get this done.”

“Well that was easy…” I said.

We went down to the meeting room ahead of Lord Sirzechs and Lord Falbium, who needed to make some last-minute preparation.

There were several high-ranking devils there that I didn’t recognize. I guess I’ll learn them soon enough if I am to become more than an otaku low-ranking devil.

I did see Riser. His mother was right next to him. I can take a wild guess as to why that was…

There was another that greeted the President.

“Oh hey, Rias!”

“Greetings, Sairaorg.”

He looked slightly older than us and had a very muscular build and was quite tall. He seemed to notice my inquisitive glance at his impressive physique.

“Oh. I believe we’ve never introduced myself to you, young lady. I am Sairaorg Bael.”

“Well… I’m Aika Kiryuu.”

“She’s my Pawn,” the President added. “I found she had somehow made a pact with a dragon spirit and I used all of them on her. She has proven to be quite useful.”

“So I’ve heard. I’m interested to see how she fares against mine. I ended up using all except one mutation piece on mine.”

“Oh. You also have a mutation piece. I still have a mutated Bishop I have yet to use.”

“That could prove quite useful. I’m now definitely interested in seeing how your peerage stacks up against mine once you complete it.”

They continued chatting as I decided to take a look around, maybe chat with some of the other people’s peerages.

But then…

“Oh. Good evening, Aika Kiryuu.”

It was Milcom Amon.

“Good evening…” I said apprehensively. I didn’t want to cause a scene, especially since I have no idea when he wants to be antagonistic or not.

“Relax. I said earlier I have no intention of starting anything.”

“Well, if you _do_ start anything, you know the person who will stop it.”

“Must you insist on giving them trouble, Milcom?” an older voice said.

I turned around. An older man who looked similar to Milcom, with scruffier hair and a graying beard approached us and was carrying a staff.

“Father!” Milcom exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to see you here…”

“This is an important evening. Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“The same reason Mom isn’t here…”

“Excuse my son’s rudeness,” the older man said. “You can call me Lord Amon.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Alright. Sorry for the wait,” Lord Sirzechs announced as he entered with Lord Falbium. “Let us begin.”

“In case you weren’t aware,” he continued as everyone sat down. “Leviathan and Beelzebub are not with us this evening, as they are helping provide extra security to the Church’s operations in light of recent attacks.

We also have some guests with us who will be helping us – Suzaku of the Himejima clan as well as Shemhazai of the fallen angels. With the powerful enemies that we have encountered, we must make powerful allies of our own.

Isn’t that right, sister?”

The President nodded. “It is true. We have encountered numerous dangerous foes over the past few weeks that I doubt we would have been able to face alone.”

“I would like to second their statements,” Suzaku commented. “My great uncle had perpetuated a culture of antagonism in my clan, particularly against Lord Shemhazai’s people and especially to my cousin Akeno and her father. Today is the day where that must end, so we can focus on our true enemy.”

“I accept this truce.” Shemhazai replied. “I am not afraid of breaking our cultural barriers. If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have married a devil.”

I heard a woman nearby giggling.

The two of them stood up and shook hands.

“May I suggest another agreement?”

There was another unfamiliar voice among us.

There was a hologram of a blonde-haired woman in a cloak that had appeared in the room.

“Iblis!” Lord Sirzechs exclaimed. “So, you were the one who betrayed the angels and sided with Halja.”

“My sole loyalty is to our true goddess. All those who oppose her must fall. And if you refuse to give us the territory that your family controls on Earth, Sirzechs, they _will_ fall. Choose wisely.”

There was much clamor as the woman known as Iblis vanished.

“What are we going to do?” Suzaku asked Lord Sirzechs and Falbium.

“I dunno,” Lord Falbium replied.

Lord Sirzechs sighed, “Of course you would say that.”

He turned to the President. “Rias, can you and your peerage make it back to Earth?”

“I would tread carefully,” Lord Amon stated. “Iblis is no fool. If we send aid, she may act out against the Church’s committee she has taken hostage.”

“You may be right,” Lord Sirzechs replied. “Makoto and Sona may be on their own.”

“It will be alright,” the President commented. “I have faith in Makoto. I know he can stop her.”

* * *

As Makoto shattered the barrier, Kuroka lead the charge as she busted through the front door with magic.

Kuroka’s blast knocked out some of the exorcists as several others started charging at us.

“Sorry!” Xenovia exclaimed as she knocked several exorcists out with the edge of Durandal.

Lint, meanwhile, was casually shooting down several of them with dual pistols.

“Hang on, Lint!” Irina said as she knocked out one of the guards with Hauteclere, “We’re not killing them!”

“Relax!” Lint responded, “These are rubber bullets.”

However, as I was using Twilight Healing on where an exorcist had injured Xenovia’s arm, several more were rushing down the stairs at us.

However, they were easily stopped as several multicolored energy blasts knocked them all down.

Behind us, Rossweisse was entering the building as magic circles surrounding her vanished.

“Glad to see you have collected yourself, nya.” Kuroka commented.

“I appreciate it…” Rossweisse replied.

One of the exorcists was attempting to get up, but the Class President surrounded him with water and Serafall froze it.

Xenovia walked up to the frozen exorcist and tapped the area around his head, giving him enough room to breathe.

“What are you doing attacking us?” the Class President interrogated him. “Weren’t you supposed to be guarding the place?”

The exorcist gasped for air, “I- I don’t know! I came here for this assignment and next thing I know you have me frozen in here!”

“It’s as I thought,” Xenovia commented. “Somebody brainwashed them.”

The Class President stretched her hand out again and the ice thawed out, leaving the exorcist unconscious on the floor.

“I guess this means we will have to question Iblis herself,” Yuma stated.

* * *

I rushed through the hall into the room labeled “Conference Room.”

I slammed open the doors to reveal Mom and the rest of the committee members sitting while Iblis was standing before me.

“Ah, yes. The much-debated White Dragon Emperor reveals himself at last.”

“Give them up, Iblis!” I demanded.

“Even if you have the opposite Sacred Gear of my master, such idle demands won’t intimidate me. Mine will pierce right through you!”

I fired off my Power of Retribution at Iblis, with the enhanced power of my Balance Breaker.

However, the intense aura of her spear allowed her to merely swipe away my attack with ease.

She summoned her ten wings and charged at me, forcing me to pull out my Excalibur Mimic.

However, that spear put an amount of force on my blade that I have never felt before, creating massive amounts of sparks as it came in contact.

“That’s a cute attempt,” Iblis taunted, “but my spear is one-half of the strongest Longinus in the world! Your seventh of Excalibur is a toy in comparison.”

Duly noted. I withdrew Excalibur and simply parried the spear with the gauntlets of my Scale Mail.

Her Spear of Longinus is still quite obviously a force to be reckoned with. One false move and this angel will have the ability to reduce me to swiss cheese in a moment’s notice.

My course of action must be to make contact with her and divide her power.

I went on the offensive in close quarters. However, Iblis’ spear kept blocking my attacks and prevented me from getting a Divide off.

The sheer force of her spear meant that I won’t be able to defend for long, especially since I can feel the power I got from the Demon Lords wearing off. If I lose my Balance Breaker before defeat her, I’m going to be a Spear of Longinus kabob in no time.

Simply put, I have to lure her out of defense, her attacks have reach, but not exactly range.

I jumped out of her range and began firing off my Power of Retribution again and kept putting pressure on her to jump on the offensive.

She took the bait and charged at me again, but instead of trying to parry the attack like last time, I dodged it.

This simple change in tactics appeared to throw Iblis off guard, and it gave me the opening I need to strike her in close quarters!

“ _DIVIDE! DIVIDE!”_

She still wasn’t letting up, though. She charged at me again, seemingly making up for raw strength with increased ferocity.

I noticed an odd flashing in her wing color.

She managed to keep blocking my blows, but after a while, her attack slipped and I was narrowly able to get another hit in.

_“DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE!”_

The increased power from Balance Breaker has allowed me to divide her power five times from these two blows.

Let’s see how it has affected our power matchup, I fell back out of her range yet again and fired off my Power of Retribution.

She attempted to dissipate the attack but she ended up being knocked back, with her spear being flung out of her hand!

“For the record, Iblis, it’s the _Legendary_ White Dragon Emperor,” I commented.

I had disarmed her at just the right time, as my Balance Breaker wore off a moment after I said that.

The rest of the group entered the room as Mom, Baraqiel, Serafall, and Ajuka confronted her.

Asia ran up to me, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. Thank you, Asia.”

“You’ve lost, Iblis. Give it up.” Baraqiel commented.

“No… No…” Iblis began saying. “You’re wrong…

She immediately grabbed her spear.

They all fired up our auras.

“It’s _you_ have lost, you pieces of shit! BALANCE BREAK!!”

She was about to fling that spear at me, but she suddenly froze up as her halo suddenly shattered!

She began breathing heavily.

She summoned her wings, which were now… black!

She was now a fallen angel!

“Impossible! After what I’ve done for my Goddess!?”

“You let the sin of wrath consume you, Iblis.” Gabriel said to her.

“No! My Lady must be disappointed in my defeat! But I will prove myself to her… by destroying the Underworld!”

She then vanished in a flash of light!

“She’s gone insane!” Xenovia exclaimed.

“She was always insane,” I commented, “But now she’s so insane she’s pulled a Freed Sellzen.”

“I’m going into the Underworld to stop her.” Serafall said.

“I’m going with you,” Sona said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure not to destroy the Underworld myself…” Serafall replied.

“I’m going too.”

Sona glanced at Saji in surprise as he declared that.

“This is going to be dangerous. I don’t want you to be harmed.”

“I- I don’t want you to be harmed either!”

Saji looked incredibly embarrassed from saying that.

However, I saw a rare smile from Sona, “Alright, who else?”

“I guess I might as well go…” I said.

“I will too,” Xenovia said. “Two of each peerage seems reasonable.”

“But I’m going with Makoto, too!” Asia said.

“Well, whatever works…” Xenovia commented.

Rossweisse was about to raise her hand when Odin said, “Miss Rossweisse! I think you should go!”

“I was about to say that, Lord Odin.”

“Hey, what about you, Baraqiel?” Odin added. “Your daughter is down there, right?”

“… I don’t know…”

Now that he mentioned it, I am worried also about Akeno… and Rias too! My manhood be damned if I lose them with my unresolved feelings!

What may be the issue for Baraqiel though is whether or not he can look his daughter in the eye again after he failed her before.

“I have to think about it,” he said. “You guys go on without me.”

“Alright! What a team!” Serafall exclaimed. “Let’s go kick some formerly-pure angel butt!”

We all went to the train station that Rias’ peerage went to go to the Underworld.

As we entered the elevator, Serafall reached into her pocket.

“Ah crap…”

Sona sighed and pulled out her own card. Now we were headed down.

“My little sister saved the day once again, we are such an unbeatable duo!”

Serafall glomped onto her sister as she said it, the latter looking like she wanted this to be over.

“We haven’t saved the day just yet, Big Sister…”

* * *

“So, what are we going to do, President?” Yuuto asked me as we were hunkered down in my room as my brother and Lord Falbium was trying to assess the situation back on Earth.

I sighed. “This is a delicate situation. I did say I trust Makoto, but I still worry.”

Akeno looked particularly gloom, and I know why, but now is not the time to bring up a petty rivalry.

“Hey, if the President thinks he can kick her butt, Makoto can kick her butt!” Aika said, clasping her fist.

Koneko nodded and did the same.

“My, my,” Akeno said to me, looking much happier than before. “I will have to agree with Aika.”

Suddenly, we felt a tremor.

There was a loaded silence as we all were trying to figure out what was going on.

Then, all of a sudden, two robed men entered the room and attacked us.

Akeno immediately took care of them with lightning.

“We need to get out of here!” she said.

“I agree. Something must have happened,” I said. “I hope it is not the worst…”

“Promotion: Queen!”

Aika was able to promote to Queen. So, this is like when Milcom and Kokabiel took over the school – the enemy is claiming this as their territory.

“Lead the way, Aika!” I said

She opened the door, revealing more enemies.

Akeno and Ravel was right behind her and they took them out with their Lightning and Fire magic.

We made our advance out. We needed to get to Earth and assess the situation.

Aika blocked and redirected dark magic attacks that came our way while Ravel, Akeno, and I fired back with our own magic.

Some fast ones, however, were able to break through. Yuuto summoned his Holy Demonic Sword and took care of them. Hagane was right behind him and dealt with some of them as well.

Koneko also was able to handle a group of them, but she quickly looked a bit winded.

“Are you okay, Koneko?”

“I’m sorry if I’m having trouble catching up…”

“You don’t have to apologize,” I assured her. “You’re doing great. Let’s keep moving!”

However, as we were nearing the exit, there was one last enemy. Akeno and Ravel attacked her, but it had no effect!

She had donned armor that was almost exactly like Hagane’s, only red!

“Impossible!” Hagane exclaimed. “When I was recruited by Lord Milcom, he said I was the only one with the Conjured Armor ability!”

The enemy charged at us and Hagane summoned her armor to defend us from the attack.

She blocked the enemy’s fierce blows, but was struggling to find an opening to attack.

“How does it feel to know you are aren’t the only one who can use Conjured Armor anymore?” the enemy taunted.

“Well, there is one thing I _do_ have!” Hagane said as she finally found an opening to go on the offensive.

She hit the enemy with a fierce blow and had turned the tides. Now the enemy was struggling to find an opening. And something about her attacks had an edge over the enemy.

“I am a Rook of Rias Gremory!”

The next hit Hagane made broke right through the enemy’s armor and knocked her out.

“Nice!” Aika said. “And you even kept her clothes on!”

“My, my.” Akeno said. “We don’t talk about that.”

“Talk about what?” I asked.

“You don’t wanna know.” Koneko said.

However, we were not out of the fire just yet as several enemies entered the room. All with Conjured Armor.

“This is bad!” Yuuto exclaimed.

“One was enough for me,” Hagane said. “I can’t take all of them.”

“Allow me,” said Aika.

* * *

During the train ride, Sona asked me to rematch her in chess.

“Checkmate.”

I sighed. “I lost again. I guess that first time was just a fluke, after all.”

“Not necessarily,” Sona said. “Like your powers, with more practice, you can become a serious threat.”

“So, am I still supposed to marry you?” I asked.

She gave me a weird look that I was having trouble interpreting.

“You’re on my short list. I will need more time to finalize who I really want to marry.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“And besides, I think Rias and Akeno like you more. I don’t want to rain on their parade if I don’t have to.”

“Hang on, you’re getting sentimental. I thought that wasn’t your thing.”

“You know from the Sports Festival that I can get serious if I want to.”

“You’re right. I also know someone who likes _you_ more.”

“Really,” she said, getting smug. “Then who?”

“That’s a secret.”

We then heard a rumbling noise and the lights began to flicker.

Saji entered the room.

“You have any idea what’s going on, Saji?” Sona asked.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

Soon after, the lights went out completely.

We had to take a moment to figure out our situation, until…

“Class President, get down!”

Saji and Sona ducked as I narrowly parried with my Excalibur a sword strike meant for her.

As the lights went back on the next moment, it became clear.

This girl was the one who stole Ascalon!


End file.
